Did indigenous conservation ethics exist?

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people

Abstract - Despite the common assertion that some indigenous peoples were conservationists, a number of authors have claimed that persuasive evidence for this is lacking. They have, apparently, overlooked such evidence. It is well documented, for example, that centuries ago Pacific Islanders invented and employed all the basic marine conservation measures that Europeans began to use only in the early 1900s. For islanders to have devised and employed deliberate conservation measures, they first had to learn that their natural resources were limited. They could only have done so by depleting them. Evidence that a culture overharvested or otherwise damaged its natural resources at some period in its history is no proof that it was, for all times, non-conservationist. Some Pacific Island cultures learned that their marine resources were limited and introduced marine conservation measures accordingly. Others never learned this lesson because their marine resources always exceeded harvesting pressure. I suggest that a worldwide survey of relevant literature would show that societies that developed con-scious conservation practices were usually small and relied on natural resources that were circum-scribed and thus easily depleted. Today, in an era of shrinking natural resource frontiers, establishing whether a conservation ethic exists in an indigenous culture is a vital first step in determining how to help its people live within their natural resource limits.

Forest Rights Lost.

Evictions Loom Over a Million Adivasis.

Themes: Conservation, Parks, Policy, Human rights, Indigenous people, Poverty

How can the competing issues of conservation and indigenous rights work in harmony to ensure both forests and the livelihoods of their inhabitants are protected?

Trophy hunting for conservation and development in Namibia?

The limitations of economic benefits and the role of science

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people, NGOs, Parks

WWF’s Secret War:

One Of The World’s Biggest Charities Funds Guards Who Have Tortured And Killed People

Themes: Human rights, Conservation, NGOs, Parks, Indigenous people

The World Wide Fund for Nature funds vicious paramilitary forces to fight poaching. A BuzzFeed News investigation reveals the hidden human cost.

Botswana has found her voice about elephants – but will we listen?

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people, Human rights, Poverty

Botswana elephants – to trophy hunt and cull, or not? The current international furore over a Botswana government White Paper (discussion document) regarding elephant management necessitates an understanding of the entire picture. This is one of a series of opinion pieces on the subject published by Africa Geographic

How the FRA Is Being Cut Down to Size, and Tribals With It.

It is scandalous that the fate of a million people can rest on the abdication of responsibility and a deliberate act of omission by the government.

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Indigenous people

Nearly 20 Lakh Tribals Vulnerable to Eviction Thanks to Supreme Court Order

A lawyer said that the Supreme Court may have "overstepped".

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people, Human rights

Seeking More Compensation, Tribal People Attack Forest Department Personnel

"We feel as though it is only our duty to conserve and preserve forests and wildlife – and not the duty of everyone.”

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Indigenous people